Enter a Victorian Christmas Card come to life - a truly one-of-a-kind holiday adventure for all ages!

Magical entertainments abound on seven stages and throughout the winding lanes of “Old London”

Searching for the perfect gift? Revel in a wonderland of one-of-a-kind artisan treasures and treats!

A treasured Bay Area tradition! Weekends Nov.22-Dec.21, including the Friday after Thanksgiving

A Victorian Christmas Card Come to Life!

Enter the world of Charles Dickens and revel in a Victorian London where it's always Christmas Eve and the streets resound with celebrations of the Season! Lively calls of street vendors ring out above the crowd and mingle with holiday carolers; tempting aromas of roasted chestnuts and hearty foods fill the air; enticing shops overflow with one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts.

To recreate old London town, we transform over three acres of vintage exhibition halls into lamplit lanes, pubs and theatres, dance floors and music halls, tearooms and shops. Hundreds of costumed characters from genteel to boisterous bring the town to life and interact with patrons.

Join us for five weekends from 10am to 7pm, including the Friday after Thanksgiving!

Experience a truly one-of-a-kind holiday adventure for all ages – the young, and the young at heart!

Surprise & Serendipity Abound

From highborn royalty to denizens of the street, the Fair teems with over 700 colorful & iconic characters from the imagination of Charles Dickens -- and the pages of history!

Father Christmas holds court beside a great toy-bedecked tree, hearing the Christmas wishes of all good girls and boys. Or you might mingle with chimney sweeps, London bobbies, and street urchins; cheer Queen Victoria and dashing Prince Albert as they tour the streets; strike up a conversation with Charles Dickens himself, Edgar Allan Poe, or Lewis Carroll; meet Oliver Twist, Alice and the Mad Hatter, Tiny Tim, or Ebenezer Scrooge!

Our seven stages offer entertainments from the family-friendly to decidedly daring: proper ladies and gentlemen may enjoy an opera gala, children’s shows, melodramas, music and dance. Those more raffish may carouse with Can-Can dancers and salty sailors, or join in a bawdy chorus at the infamous Broadside Music Hall Revue.

What better occasion to raise a toast? Choose from refreshing champagne, hot chocolate, spiced mead, hot buttered rum, Turkish coffee, a pint of stout or ale, and more! Sodas and other cold drinks are also offered.

A Unique Entertainment Experience

The world-renowned Great Dickens Christmas Fair is the only event of its kind. We recreate the merriest moments in Victorian London for you to enjoy for hours on end, even over multiple days or weekends. A treasured Bay Area tradition since 1970, the Fair is an incomparable holiday original that generations of families have embraced as their own holiday tradition. We think you will agree it's a perfectly, delightfully, splendid way to celebrate the Season!

Join us for five weekends from 10am to 7pm (including the Friday after Thanksgiving!) November 22 ~ December 21

When high on the walls You have twined the green holly Let music resound And let all be most jolly

Tickets

Ticket sales for our 2014 season have ended.

Thank you for your patronage!

Jolly Good Fun

Rollicking entertainments on seven stages and throughout the streets of Charles Dickens’ London! The “V&A” music hall presents a lively Christmas Pantomime for all ages, while Old Father Christmas himself holds court daily at the Father Christmas Stage. Children’s fare abounds with the arrival of the Toy Parade and continues with storytelling, Punch & Judy, and Tea with Alice & Friends.

Kick up your feet at Fezziwig’s Warehouse with reels, jigs, polkas and waltzes! When the musicians pause to rest, join in a lively round of "Wink" or other Victorian parlour games. At the Silk Road Stage, rub shoulders with all classes in English country dances, polkas and waltzes, then sing along to rowdy Music Hall favorites at Mad Sal’s Dockside Ale House!

Meet Scrooge at the Christmas Carol stage and see Dickens' magical holiday story come to life! Behold the Ghost of Jacob Marley, the Three Christmas Spirits, and Bob Cratchit and family as they help the old miser learn the true spirit of the season. At the Dickens Family Parlour, visit with Mr. Dickens’ family, his characters, and even the author himself!

Seeking more raffish entertainments? Uptown at the V&A the titillating “Saucy French Postcards” revue returns by popular demand; while dockside at Mad Sal’s, the mischievous girls of Can Can Bijou kick up their heels and show their frillies! At Dark Garden, exquisite corsets are scandalously displayed on lifelike mannequins. Did that rich bosom heave a sigh? Did that one wink? Oh, my!